Reading the Tea Leaves

Tea Education, Consultancy, and Tastings

Archive for Category : Black Teas

  1. One Varietal: Red, Green, & In-Between

    [Sorry, no photos; as I mentioned before, a camera was stolen during one trip.] Tastings held at companies in tea growing countries are always special.  Some teas may be familiar, and others may be new or less familiar, but the setting and conditions are always correct.  There is a support staff who are efficient and well [...]

  2. Scented Tea: Flowers or No Flowers?

    It ought to have been a routine, predictable tasting.  Rose congou, as I have known this Black tea, has not varied much from year to year.  There are a few rose petals, the rosy pink very striking against the black leaves, and the flavor was soft: giving a hint of the familiar fragrance and well [...]

  3. Bloopers & Other Oddities

    This posts lists tidbits of mis-information or other strange items I have come across.  (I don’t spend time searching these out.)  Some are mere slips and are humorous; some are outright inaccurate, and some confuse when the intent is to educate and inform.  I also include prices that startle (me, at least), and other eye-opening [...]

  4. What’s With All the Spirals?

    It was a happy find to see an actual shipment that bettered the out-turn sample for Pi Lo Chun Green last week.  In most instances, the shipment and the sample are a good match — the being the whole point of obtaining preshipment samples and writing very specific notes on any contract. (I also remember [...]

  5. Gold Rush

    There are Silver Pearls and Silver Needles to be found in teas, and as these Jasmine and White teas become better known, “silver” attached to tea has entered common parlance.  The grey-silver sheen of certain types of teas comes from the fine, downy hairs of unopened buds.  Silvery sproutings contrast against darker leaves in some [...]

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